Changing Her World, One Afternoon at a Time: A Big small Talk with Yellow Scope Science Kits for Girls

I’ve been excited about this concept ever since I first saw its founders, Marcie Colledge and Kelly McCollum, speak at a local school STEM event, which inspired my then-first graders (and me, a somewhat-science-challenged mom) to step up and participate in our school Science Fair. I was thrilled to discover that fellow moms in my hometown of Portland were collaborating on a new product to help girls fall in love with science. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, they launched these awesome Foundation Chemistry Kits last Fall. As the mom of two 3rd graders, I’m truly grateful. Why? Because girls lose their confidence in their science and math abilities between 4th and 8th grades– and marketers play a role in this problem. You can learn more about why in Yellow Scope’s great video below, and in the additional links at the end of this post.

Thank you, team Yellow Scope for giving us a glimpse into your brand journey and for sharing some brand-building tips with us today! To a great year of learning ahead …

BSB: Since YOUR OFFICIAL LAUNCH LAST FALL, YOUR TEAM HAS CELEBRATED A FEW AMAZING MILESTONES. WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR MOST MEANINGFUL RECENT WINS?

YS: We have been trying to get into the Science Store at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. This was a personal mission for us because OMSI is the science museum right in our own backyard.

OUR PLAN: 1) Take OMSI a science kit. 2) OMSI falls in love with our mission of building girls’ confidence in science. 3) OMSI places an order immediately—not only because the quality of our kit is so high, but also because they want to support a local company.

OUR REALITY: OMSI’s Science Store is expertly run by a company called Event Network. In San Diego. They run almost 100 museum stores around the world! We realized that our kit would really have to measure up to standards that are held for many institutions across the globe. We are pleased to announce that our Foundation Chemistry Kit passed the test, and the Science Store at OMSI will be carrying our kit starting in October for the holiday season!

We also won a Gold Parents’ Choice Award this year—which is like winning an Oscar. Professionally, this was key to give our product validation in the toy industry, but on a personal level, we are so excited to see our kit at OMSI.

BSB: IS THERE A Story behind the Yellow Scope namE?

YS: We love the word scope. It makes us think of so many different things ranging from common words like microscope, telescope, stethoscope, and even kaleidoscope, to lesser known words such as haemoscope, nephroscope, spectroscope, or how about ebullioscope (?!). Scope comes from the Greek word meaning “examine, inspect, look into, consider.” Scientists need to do all those things.

We also like the definition of scope in terms of extent or breadth. We think a lot about the scope of knowledge that girls need in this world to be confident and successful in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers.

BSB: WHERE DID THE YELLOW SCOPE STORY BEGIN?

YS: We met in 2008 as volunteers running our school’s STEM programs, including Family Science Nights and the Science Fair. Our “aha moment” was realizing how well we work together and how passionate we both are about science, girls, and education. Upon searching for science kits for our own daughters, we discovered that spa and beauty products masquerading as science kits were the only kits marketed to girls.

BSB: how do you stay inspired creatively AS YOU CONTINUE TO GROW YOUR BRAND?

BSB: What are your top 1-2 social media channels and why? Any go-to tips or tools you’ve used to support these efforts?

YS: We are very active on Facebook through organic posts and paid ads, which accounted for a lot of our success on Kickstarter campaign last fall. Facebook lends itself to mission-based businesses because people want to share posts that align with their passions.

Twitter is great for community building and sharing things quickly and easily all around the world. Many of our biggest brand ambassadors found us on Twitter.

In addition, we are very excited about Buyable Pins on Pinterest. We were just approved for this new feature, which will be fully integrated into our Shopify e-commerce platform. You can follow us on Pinterest and watch for stunning science pins (with an opportunity to buy an amazing science kit for girls) coming soon!

BSB: Thank you, TEAM YELLOW SCOPE! WE’RE EXCITED TO FOLLOW THE NEXT PHASE OF YOUR JOURNEY!

There are also some great non-profit organizations and programs working to expose girls of all ages and diverse backgrounds to science and math. A few to check out include Girls Inc’s Operation SMART program, Girls Who Code, and IGNITE. I encourage you to check them out, and consider closely what YOU can do to engage a young girl in your life to more STEM- focused conversations, activities, and actions!

Stay tuned for our next Big smallTalk interview next month. In the meantime, if you have an emerging brand or business to be considered for a future post, feel free get in touch to nominate them today. We’d love to hear from you!